A special congratulations to ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฒ๐น ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐, who recently received his 1st XI white cap and marked the occasion with an excellent debut performance against Muir College.
Stepping up to senior cricket in a 50-over encounter, Nathaniel showed great composure, contributing 37 runs with the bat and taking two wickets with the ball.
U15A Cricket
Pearson High School vs Union High School
T20
Union High School batted first and were bowled out for 32 runs. Pearson High School comfortably chased down the target within 10 overs, winning the T20 by 10 wickets.
50-Over Match
Pearson High School U15A: 244/7 (50 overs)
Union High School U15A: 73 all out (36.3 overs)
Pearson won by 171 runs.
Pearson won the toss and elected to bat, posting a strong total of 244/7 from their 50 overs.
UHS Bowling โ Positives
Our bowlers started well and kept things tight in the opening stages.
UHS Batting
It was a tough day with the bat, as we were bowled out for 73 in 36.3 overs.
First Team
Union High School vs Pearson High School
Pearson High School won both fixtures in the T20 and 50-over formats.
T20
Union High School batted first and were bowled out for 81 runs. Pearson comfortably chased down the target, winning the match by 8 wickets.
50-Over Match
Union High School won the toss and elected to field.
Pearson found themselves in early trouble at 40/5, but they showed good resilience and recovered to post 218 all out in the 44th over.
Union struggled in reply and were dismissed for 39, with Pearson winning the match by 179 runs.
Final Thoughts
It was a tough weekend of cricket, and unfortunately, things did not go our way. However, every difficult day is an opportunity to learn, improve and come back stronger.
Stay positive, keep fighting and keep showing up. It is very easy to give up when things are not going your way, but the real challenge is to keep going, and we will learn from it and move forward.
Union High School’s Top 6 boysโ and girlsโ junior tennis players recently travelled to Cradock to compete in the annual CLS Spar Tennis Tournament, held from 26 to 29 August.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟโ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐โ๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐, ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ญ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐โ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ญ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฟ๐น๐โ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐.
Over three busy days of tennis, our players faced strong opposition from schools including Stirling, Summerwood, Volkskool, Fichardtpark, DSG, Clarendon Park and Selborne.
We are proud of our boysโ team, who competed with a lot of heart in a particularly competitive boysโ section and represented Union admirably throughout the tournament.
๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ท๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐, securing 4th place overall from the 12 participating teams.
Along the way, they recorded some excellent results, finishing ahead of strong sides including DSG, Volkskool, Jeffreys Bay and Clarendon Park.
๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐๐น ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ and a valuable opportunity to test themselves against some of the best junior school tennis talent around.
A big congratulations to Union High School, Graaff-Reinet 1st XI cricketer, ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, on an outstanding bowling performance against Daniรซl Pienaar Technical High School!
Alex finished with an impressive ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ต ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, playing a key role for the team.
His efforts were recognised this morning at assembly, where he was presented with the match ball – a well-deserved reminder of a job very well done.
๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐
There are some cricket weekends where you look back at the results and think, ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ. This was certainly one of them.
With Muir College visiting for a full weekend of T20 and 50-over cricket, Unionโs teams produced some wonderful individual performances, some hard-fought victories and importantly, plenty of signs of players putting their hands up when their teams needed them most.
And if there was one thing that stood out, it was the sheer number of individual performances that deserve a mention.
The ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ซ๐ got the weekend off to a great start in their T20. After losing early wickets, Union needed someone to steady the ship – and ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ did exactly that, producing a brilliant ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐. It was the sort of innings that can completely change the mood of a dressing room and his aggressive stroke play propelled Union to 128.
The bowlers then ensured it went right down to the wire. ๐๐น๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ต๐๐ฎ and Mbutywe both claimed ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ and despite a determined Muir fightback, Union held their nerve to sneak home by just ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐. A proper little thriller.
Saturdayโs 50-over game was a tougher affair, with Muir reaching 113 after some excellent bowling from ๐๐น๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ต๐๐ฎ (๐ฐ/๐ฎ๐ด) and ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ท๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ผ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ฟ (๐ฎ/๐ญ๐ฌ). Union couldn’t quite find their rhythm with the bat and were bowled out for 44, but there were enough individual positives to take forward. Cricket has a funny way of giving you another opportunity the following week.
The ๐จ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ boys, meanwhile, had a weekend to remember.
They produced ๐๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ and what was particularly pleasing was the all-round nature of their performances. In the T20, Union posted 155/6, with ๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐๐ leading the way with a composed ๐ฑ๐ฏ, supported by ๐ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ผ (๐ฎ๐ฎ) and ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฎ (๐ญ๐ณ). Then the bowlers went to work, restricting Muir to 69/8. ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป capped off a fine all-round contribution with ๐ฏ/๐ฎ๐ด, while ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐๐ฒ (๐ฎ/๐ต) ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐บ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ค๐ผ๐บ๐ณ๐ (๐ญ/๐ฐ) chipped in beautifully.
The 50-over match brought another impressive performance. ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ top-scored with ๐ฐ๐ฐ, with ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ง๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ผ๐ป (๐ฎ๐ฏ) and ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ (๐ฎ๐ฎ) providing valuable support as Union reached 163. Then came a superb bowling display, with ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐บ๐ป๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ/๐ญ๐ณ, supported by ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ (๐ฏ/๐ฏ๐ฒ) and ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป (๐ฎ/๐ญ๐ฒ), as Muir were dismissed for 77.
Two matches, two wins and a lovely collection of players contributing at different stages. That’s exactly what you want to see from a young side.
The T20 produced the sort of individual performances that will be talked about for a while. ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ delivered a stellar performance, smashing an unbeaten ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐, with ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฏ as Union piled up an imposing 199.
But if Callum’s innings gave the scoreboard a serious workout, ๐๐ผ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐๐ถ๐น๐น decided to make the bowling figures look rather special too.
Josh produced a remarkable spell of ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐, including a ๐ต๐ฎ๐-๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ, while conceding only ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐. Nine balls. Five wickets. Three runs. It’s the kind of spell that doesn’t happen very often – and certainly one that deserves a place in the memory bank.
Union went on to win the T20 by a commanding 98 runs.
The 50-over fixture brought another batting masterclass. ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐น๐บ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ got Union off to a solid start with a 48-run opening partnership before ๐๐ผ๐๐ต settled into the innings and recorded his ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐ณ-๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐.
And then ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ธ walked in and, wellโฆ decided that 50-over cricket didn’t necessarily have to be slow.
Jaco smashed ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐, reaching his half-century from only ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐. That sort of hitting can turn a good total into a great one very quickly and Union eventually posted a formidable ๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ญ.
They then completed an excellent ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฎ-๐ฟ๐๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐.
So, when you look back at the weekend, there is plenty to celebrate. There were the wins, of course, but perhaps even more encouraging were the individual moments: ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐๐ฒ’s explosive 72, Callum’s unbeaten 116, Josh’s five wickets in nine balls and maiden 1st XI half-century, Jaco’s 70 from 29, Thimna’s four-wicket haul, Alchano’s excellent spells and the many younger players who quietly made important contributions around them.
๐ง๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ.
They are also the moments that remind you why schoolboy cricket is such fun to watch – because you never quite know when a player is going to produce something special.
The inaugural Union Premier League (UPL) was successfully hosted at Puggy Munnik Field, providing an exciting and competitive day of cricket for our boys.
The seven participating franchises were:
The standard of cricket was exceptionally high, with the boys displaying excellent skill, competitiveness and sportsmanship throughout the tournament.
A major highlight of the UPL was the opportunity to expose more boys to competitive cricket and give them a platform to showcase their ability. Several players impressed with their performances and have put themselves firmly in contention for future A-team selection. The tournament also allowed players to experience pressure situations and take on greater responsibility.
After an exciting day of cricket, the Pick n Pay Super Champions were crowned the inaugural UPL champions.
Savage Family UPL Floating Trophy โ Most Runs: Edwin Holmes
Van Zyl UPL Floating Trophy โ Most Wickets: Lucko Pehlo
Justin Kingwill UPL Floating Trophy โ Player of the Tournament: Grant Murray
UPL Floating Holmes Cup โ Champions: Pick n Pay Super Champions
The success of the inaugural UPL would not have been possible without the support of the players, coaches, parents,and in particular the sponsors and everyone involved in making the day such a memorable occasion.
The UPL has provided a fantastic platform for development, competition and talent identification, and we look forward to building on its success in the future.
๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ด๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฑ๐, who enjoyed two very different but memorable encounters over the weekend.
On Friday, they recorded a convincing 139-run win against our 2nd XI, with ๐๐ผ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐๐ถ๐น๐น, ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ง๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ผ๐ป and ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐, making valuable contributions with the bat, before the bowlers wrapped up the match with an excellent all-round effort.
Saturdayโs match against a 2nd XI strengthened by senior players and, most importantly, a number of dads, was a wonderful example of what school sport is about.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฌ/๐ฑ and although the dads and senior players eventually won by three wickets, the boys fought right through to the 39th over and can be proud of the way they competed.
A big thank you to the dads who stepped onto the field to take on their U15 sons – ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ.
Our Union 1st XI played two fixtures against Daniel Pienaar over the weekend.
In the first T20 match, we posted 110 for 5 from our 20 overs, before Daniel Pienaar chased down the target in 14.2 overs to win by four wickets. Our standout batting performances came from Leander Kraai, who carried his bat for an unbeaten 35, and Richard Murray, who made 25. With the ball, Yonela Wana took 3 for 31, while Leander Kraai completed a strong all-round performance with 2 for 21.
In the second match, a 50-over fixture, Daniel Pienaar scored 229 all out, before we were bowled out for 106, resulting in a 123-run defeat. Alex Hunter was outstanding with the ball, taking 5 for 43, while Richard Murray claimed 3 for 52. With the bat, Jordan Maritz top-scored with 37, while Yonela Wana contributed 22.
Although both results went against us, there were some very encouraging individual performances across the two matches. There is still plenty for us to work on, particularly in building partnerships, batting for longer periods and maintaining pressure more consistently with the ball.
Most importantly, we are beginning to see the players applying the skills and principles being worked on at practice. The challenge now is to improve our consistency and turn these positive individual performances into stronger team results.
๐๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ to the following Union High School chess players on their selection to represent the Sarah Baartman District:
๐๐ฎ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ต๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ (B Team, U12 Boys), ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ป (A Team, U12 Girls), ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ต (A Team, U16 Boys), ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป (B Team, U16 Boys), ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ (A Team, U16 Girls), ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ (A Team, U18 Girls) and ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐น๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ (A Team, U18).
๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด!
Congratulations to ๐ ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฒ๐น ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐, ๐๐ต๐๐ฒ๐๐ถ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐ต, who were selected to represent the Karoo U12 rugby team at the EP Sub-Union Tournament, which also served as the EP trials.
The tournament was held at Marlow Agricultural High School on 14 and 15 August.
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐บ๐ด – ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ!